One component of your estate plan may be a testamentary trust, which is a legal document, usually created within a will, that becomes effective at your death. Directing assets through a testamentary ...

Learn how irrevocable trusts protect assets, reduce estate taxes, and provide long-term financial control by placing wealth under the management of an independent trustee.

Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor tax expert. She ...

Guardians are a type of fiduciary appointed for a minor child or individual determined incapacitated by the courts. When appointed by a Last Will and Testament (“Will”), they are commonly known as ...

A letter of testamentary gives the executor of the deceased's estate the authority to handle their financial affairs. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising ...

As you sit down with your financial advisor to create an estate plan, one option that may arise is a testamentary trust. A testamentary trust is a type of trust that’s created in a last will and ...

You can establish a testamentary trust in your will, usually to provide for minor children. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when ...

The stretch IRA was a popular tool for extending the benefits of a tax-deferred account to a non-spouse beneficiary. The goal was to minimize the tax impact of the required minimum distributions (RMDs ...

Not everyone wants to leave heirs with unfettered access to the wealth they’ve accumulated over the course of a lifetime. Some people want to put restrictions on when or how money is used. Others hope ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...